What If ABC Held a Debate, but Forgot to Show Up?

Read more reactions from Huffington Post bloggers to ABC's Pennsylvania Democratic debate

All night long, every time I'd think about the ABC "debate" (sic), three reactions rose up - 1) grind my teeth to an angry pulp, 2) let my head explode, or 3) type something to let the steam out.

This morning, I still can't believe I was able to make it through 45 minutes of the broadcast.

This was topflight journalism at its worst. This was ABC's old, flimsy history with threadbare sizzle packaged as news. It was a tabloid debate with tabloid questions. Matt Drudge come to life on a respectable stage. From what I subsequently discovered, they actually, eventually got around to real issues -- after over an hour. But watching it for a mere 45 minutes made me feel almost seedy. I wanted to shower to get the smarm off. I love news, I admire professional journalists, I cherish the Mainstream Media, even when they flounder, because it is the core of democracy. But this was embarrassing. This was pathetic. This was just a cheesy press conference with cheesy questions.

Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos should be ashamed. I'm sure they have all of their reasons wrapped nicely with a bow, explaining why they asked what they asked and why it was proper and good and noble. Sorry, it wasn't. They put this on in prime time across the nation, and turned it into a slimy, Fox Network reality show. A cross between Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire? and Temptation Island. Something like, So, You Want to Be President?!

This was a disservice to America.

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are running for President of the United States. It's a job that really, seriously matters. There are critically important issues facing the nation, right now. Last week, 81% of Americans said that they felt that the country had pretty seriously gotten off-track. There's the five-year Iraq War with 4,000 Americans dead and trillions spent. A national deficit pushing the country to recession. The G8 nations have expressed their tottering concern about the dollar. Global warming has put the entire globe at risk. The president and his top cabinet advisor are discovered in a memo to have discussed how to allow torture.

And for the first hour, the very first things these moderators could think of asking the two people in line to become the most powerful person in the world was -- what one of their pastors said? Who else also sat on a community board with him? Whether he used the best syntax in describing anger in America?

This was shameless. Hurtful.

And for all the post-debate commentators saying how "on the defensive" Barack Obama was -- most of them should be ashamed, as well, not pointing out how ghastly the questions were. They failed, as well.

What I saw during the "debate" (sic) made me completely agree with Senator Obama saying repeatedly that these questions are about things that don't matter in the lives of Americans. He wasn't "defensive." He was right. There's a difference. He answered the questions - same as he'd answered the questions before. But --

What his pastor said...Does Not Matter.

Who he served on a community board with...Does Not Matter.

Whether he is elitist for using the word "bitter"...Does Not Matter.

What matters is that there are angry people in Pennsylvania, and in America. What matters is what issues Barack Obama was dealing with on that community board he was a member of. What matters is what Barack Obama himself says.

What matters is the Iraq War. Torture. The Economy. Education. The price of gas. Domestic spying on Americans. Global warming. National security.

If Mr. Gibson and Mr. Stephanopoulos felt so-deeply compelled to toss in some of their Questions Lite -- even though they'd been asked and addressed repeatedly through the past weeks -- that's fine, ask them, at least the ones that dance on the edge of substance. But have the decency to hold them to later, after you've established the gravitas of the debate. Because otherwise, when you start by throwing out chum for the first hour, what you establish is that these are the things that "matter." And what comes later, nah, that's just afterthought.

Republican pundits do themselves no good pushing these empty topics, which they do only because they have no platform to run on. And Charles Gibson and George Stephanopoulos bought into it.

And Hillary Clinton did herself no good either by repeating that these things matter -- saying that "the Republicans will bring them up." News Flash: the Republicans will bring up just as much about her. And those won't substantively matter either. Or even necessarily be true.

Hillary Clinton has much good in her abilities. She has qualities that could make her an excellent president. But we are watching a person disintegrate before our eyes, throwing out the quality of her past and risking her future.

But this isn't about Hillary Clinton. This is about Charles Gibson, George Stephanopoulos and ABC "News." They were given a high responsibility to broadcast in the public interest. Instead, they spent the time in the empty gutter.

For the network of Lost and Desperate, they were both.

Read more reactions from Huffington Post bloggers to ABC's Pennsylvania Democratic debate

Comments

[LeeScho]

Tell me again why Katie Couric is ranked so far behind World News Tonight with Charles Gibson. He is overrrated and transparent, and always has been. Indeed, Diane Sawyer would have been the better choice. I don't know what happened to George Stephanopolous; he is so good on his Sunday Morning program.

It is not as if Obama has not responded at length about Rev. Wright and 'bitter." Now he is tacitly accused of supporting the Weather Underground, a group of domestic terrorists not in existence since he was eight years old. So inept was this group that they ended up killing more of themselves than their intended enemies. This was the Gibson-Stephanopolous focus on a day when inflation was reported to have risen more than three times the expected level, leaving Pennsyvanians wondering how to put bread on the table, keep a roof over their heads, and get the first generation of their families through college.

[CaptainObvious]

These clowns might have just saved her career. I can't wait for the next time network news polls come out - their numbers are going to be so low, that the only advertisers they'll have during World News Tonight will be for Oxy-Clean and seedy 1-900 chat lines.

[c1ee]

Thats because serious journalists don't get the audience. Only those catering to the lowest denominator will attract an audience, and whoever can attract audience is king, unfortunately. It is such a sad indictment of the general public that they are much more interested in sugar-coated lies and mis-information, anything but to face the hard reality. Market driven journalism is being exposed as the failure it is. People don't demand truth, they demand what they want to hear, and on balance what they want to hear isn't something that is constructive.

[Myshkin57]

Maybe, but what real journalists get the opportunity to moderate a debate? We are sadly put in the position of having to deal with these dilettantes if we are interested in debates which could be interesting and substantive if only real journalists were in charge.

[GabrielXL]

I'm inclined to agree. At the same time, look at the reactions of the people on this forum and many others in response to this "incident". I think people are starting to see the bigger picture. I've said for quite some time that we as a nation are often perpetually adolescent in our approach to things. Unfortunately it often takes extreme events to wake us up and "then" we respond accordingly. Hopefully this time we'll launch a preemptive strike against the very people and organizations that offend our sensibilities as ABC did last night. We are not a stupid nation, just childish at times. Is it any wonder that reality and sensationalist television is such a boon in our society? It's always been bad sport to quantify our lives by the struggles of others as it often leads to complacency. The "status quo" if you will. We should be more concerned with lifting "ourselves" up rather than proclaiming that we have to be strong so they must appear to be weak. (The Steinfeld School of Logic) The media catches on to this and what happened last night is a result of that erroneous thinking. What they obviously forgot is that Americans don't mind a hard fight. We just want a fair one. Some may say that all is fair in love and war, but as we've seen by evidence in Iraq and in the "show" last night, "the end doesn't justify the means". Nor should it.

[JFaye]

After Gibson's performance last night with little George in tow, I am convinced more than ever the media is STUCK ON STUPID.

When the Bush years are fully memorialized and historians evaluate how America screwed up with this occupation in Iraq, costing us incalculable loss in lives, pain and suffering to the injured men and women returning home and their families, as well enough debt for at least the next two generations of Americans, the media will have played a significant role in the Bush/Cheny debacle and deception.

ABC owes both Senators Clinton and Obama an apology as well an explanation to the viewers who took valuable personal time to watch this debacle. Does ABC "read" the news? How did a "respectable" established news organization like ABC come to feel a need to further add to the Bush years of "dumbing-down America?" These moderators contributed nothing to this election process except to parenthetically demonstrate many news corporations set an agenda versus reporting the news. Last night's demonstration left me BITTER!!!!

Who won last night, I hope Katie Couric.

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

Lost and Desperate... now that is the truth!

[bmora]

The "(sic)" is a nice touch.

[bwmack]

After the first hour, I got up from my chair and went outside to pick up dog poop in my yard. Oddly enough, that was more enjoyable, less disgusting, and more rewarding than watching that pathetic waste of time.

[Davwbaird]

Bowbow, you good master. Right on.

[Mollye]

It was a great debate! Charles Gibson is the best Commentator on Television. He is fair minded and unbiased. I no longer watch Cable news shows or NBC, but I do watch Charles Gibson every night. He reports the news, with no slant. That is rare, indeed, in today's biased news world.

[Aywaller]

If he reports with no slant, then by definintion he is not a commentator. I agree that he's usually very good. I also like George Stephanopolous on his Sunday morning show. But last night was neither's finest hour. The piling on was so obvious and the first half of the debate was just useless.

Interestingly, I was less upset with them than I was with Clinton. She had the opportunity to be better, to refuse to take part in the disinformation and she chose instead to pander. Her desperation is showing and it is ugly.

[Sandy972]

You are absolutely right...Clinton just kept twisting the knife in deeper after everyone of those ridiculously stupid questions from George and Charlie. I hope the people of PA are smart enough to see through her BS. She must quite now! The hell with Ellen and all the rest of her defenders, stick a fork in her, she's done.

[repuglycon]

Charlie should have recused himself. he has shown his rethug tendencies for some time now. That's why I quit watching him.

[erikh]

I'm not a supporter of Obama or Clinton. The debate was terrible. Only someone who hates America and wants it to continue on its downward slide would like this debate as the questioners barely touched upon any issues of significance. If this is the best the media can do, then we shall never have substantive discourse in this country again. Mollye...why do you hate America?

[sassyg]

Could not agree more. Shame on ABC News.

I'm a PA voter. An analysis in my local paper summed it up best: the loser of this debate was neither Clinton nor Obama -- it was the Pennsylvania voter.

[mairs]

Thanks for the peek into PA, sassy. I've been wondering how all this comes across to people in your state.

[Gabrielle]

ABC / FOX produced that debate....what do you expect?

but it will backfire
CHECK THIS OUT

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/democratic_presidential_nomination-191.html#charts

SOMETIMES YOU DO REAP WHAT YOU SOW....

OBAMA 08

[lennix]

sad day for the news i mean for jerks

[alyceclover]

Nice article. I did not watch the trial, I mean, debate, but heard all about it via rapid response citizen bloggers. How did a lapel pin become a presidential qualification? Did they ask about Iran and how Clinton expects to fund it? Did they ask if she plans to send those troops she promises to withdraw from Iraq to Iran? Or will she start the process of re-instating the draft? Bush told me "executive privilege" gives a president the right to declare things during "times of war", so perhaps that is what the elite government dynasty plans upon doing. But I am most interested in Hillary, to see if she plans to give females equality and draft them along with the high school graduate guys. Did they ask Hillary about Peter Paul and Bill's trial scheduled to start on 4/25/08 in Los Angeles? She did have a long relationship with Paul, so seems relevant, having to do with her prior FEC troubles. Thankful for the internet so I did not need to watch boring debates, but could go right to Thomas online and Open Secrets to get real solid information in deciding who to vote for; better than job ref. is facts of prior work history.

[muktukcanuck]

AMEN!!!! I shook my head through most of this debate, and shuddered through the rest. It was like a bad tabloid spoof. I thought Hillary looked absolutely gleeful through most of it, as she had finally found her stage, and someone willing to play at her level. I think if Barack looked uncomfortable it was just. I'm sure he was seething, as well he should have been. To be expecting a debate, and have it turn in to a he said / she said gong show would unsettle anyone, especially someone with a credible platform. I don't imagine this network is feeling too smart this morning. To have an opportunity to host a debate during this historic presidential race, and blow it in such a monumental way is nothing short of disgraceful.

[DanoS]

This was nothing short of a despicable train wreck by ABC. I'm embarrassed by our state of journalism in our country. Rest assured, today they will be met the same grilling only this time by the public and fellow media over their agenda.
Speaking of agenda, it was Sean Hannity who threw to George S. the question about Ayers if it comes as any surprise.
---
First it was "oh, Obama isn't experienced enough", then it was "Obama is a Muslim", then Obama isn't black enough", then "Obama is too black", then "Obama has associations with terrorists", then "Obama doesn't have good Judgment", now "he's an elitist" - (despite the fact that he came from a broken, poor upbringing and spent years helping lowing and middle income people as a community organizer.)
What's next? "Oh, Obama is too every-man".
Yet the truth remains, the too black, not black enough, Muslim, inexperienced, lacking judgment candidate is ahead in delegates, popular vote and more states won.

[WFV]

That was not a debate last night, it was an ambush.

I think it is unforgiveable that ABC put up such a biased display right before one of the most important primaries of the election. Obama was on the defensive? Hell yes, he was! The first half of the debate was more like a roast. His choice of jewelry (or not) makes him unpatriotic? What garbage.

I live in PA, and I am really concerned ABC's tactics worked. If voters were basing their decision on the debate last night (as I worry many undecideds may have been), she'll get a big boost.

As a volunteer for the Obama campaign, I will work like crazy until the primary to change their minds.

[Myshkin57]

It was an ambush but not with real weapons. They shot him with paint pellets. It looked like they got in some good shots, but they were so irrelevant. Living in a neighborhood with someone who's shady makes you guilty? What a bunch of morons at ABC.

[amirbakari]

Did you check out her choice of jewelry? 2 Million dollar diamond earrings, big dollar bling bling top quality pearls and no flag pin. But she's not elite, oh noooo, she's just one of "de peoples" who can feel your pain. I applaud you for your commitment to "work like crazy" and I am with you all the way in that effort.

[alamantra]

ABC should be made to pay a price for what they just subjected the American people to. Even though I'm sure that George Stephanopoulos "owes" the Clintons something for his old job as Clinton's press liason ...just like everyone else in the Clinton camp ...they all "owe" the Clintons. However, it wasn't the right thing to do to "payback" at the further expense of the American people. The American people don't owe the Clintons a damned thing.
What I walked away from that debate last night with was a new sense of resolve. I will work against the Clinton/MSM cabal with every fiber of my being. America has lost so much face in this world already. We don't need to be subjecting the World ...it is bad policy... to put someone so vain, so pretentious as Hillary Clinton has shown herself to be. We need someone who can reason with other countries, not play games with them. When Hillary talked about putting an umbrella of American protectionism over the entire Middle East, it made my stomach churn. Such a comment would not come from anyone who is actually in touch with our situation in the global community right now. It also shows that she doesn't truly understand the limitations of the executive branch of our government. She just failed "civics 101."

[ObamaOhio08]

For any of you so inclined, here are the direct phone #s to ABC:

1-212-456-7777
1-818-460-7477

This site takes you directly to ABC's programming feedback forum:

http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3271346

[Jaradan]

Thanks for the numbers. The 2nd one is a "non-working number at ABC". The first number is a great one to use to share your thoughts on ABC.

818-460-7477 is the line that's always busy.

[Jaradan]

Oops. 212-456-7477 is the nonworking number at ABC.

818-460-7477 is the one that works (is very busy now).
212-456-7777 is the one I was able to get through on.

[Paladine]

Clinton HAD to re-visit Bosnia, the poll numbers on honesty show she took a hit, she had to try and mend it. On the other hand, polls seem to confirm that Obama HAD dealt with the Wright issue, the flag pin, bitterness, yet it was front and center. Why? Well, it sure took the bite out of Hillarys Bosnia lie having it sandwiched between 25 min attacks on Obama, didn't it? Wonder if that was the game plan?

[Hullaballoo]

Isn't it funny that as most of our heads were exploding, the likes of Taylor Marsh thought it was the Best Debate Ever (tm)? She positively just gushed over those awesomely perfect questions. Because the last thing America wants is to talk about trade or the economy or our disappearing rights or torture or the war. Give us more Reverend Wright and flag pin questions based on right wing talking points PLEASE! And then she wonders why we're bitter and fed up with this old style Clinton/Republican politics. Somebody's out of touch around here, and baby it ain't you and me.